Developmental changes in postural sway in children at high and low risk for developing alcohol-related disorders

Background: To utilize the power of latent growth analysis to evaluate chan ges in postural sway during development in children who are either at high or low risk for developing alcoholism. Methods: A total of 629 assessments of postural sway have been performed in children and adolescents tn = 126) who were evaluated annually over a 7-ye ar period. Results: Latent curve models indicated that these children/adolescents show a linear decrease in sway with age. Moreover, significantly different rate s of change in the amount of sway between high- and low-risk offspring were seen. With the exception of one of the four stances tested, high-risk boys consistently showed a slower rate of improvement with respect to the amoun t of sway exhibited compared to low-risk boys. In girls, similar rates of i mprovement with age were seen in high- and low-risk individuals, though in one stance the high-risk girls showed a deterioration (greater sway with in creasing age). Conclusions: Previous reports of increased postural sway in high-risk offsp ring most likely reflect a developmental delay thigh-risk children have gre ater sway than is appropriate for their age based on normative values by ag e). (C) 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry.